Rogue Spear Multiplayer Preview by GMan
	Crouching has changed slightly from R6 with the new ability to move while crouched. This probably won't be used very much since the player moves extremely slowly while crouched. Strafing out while crouched would mean instant death. One exception to moving while crouched is if you are using a sniper rifle. When you hit crouch you sit down on the ground and take aim with your weapon, and you won't be able to move until you stand up. Crouching is now also much easier in RS than in R6. In R6 you have to hold your crouch key down to stay crouched. In RS, the key is a toggle switch that will keep you in a crouch until you hit it again. Weapons Weapons in RS function more realistically than in R6. The selection of weapons given to the player is similar to a NATO mod. The M4 (Car-15) now has no three-shot burst capability, while the M-16 is not capable of fully-automatic fire. This is how both rifles actually operate. Zooming is more realistic, with the Mp5 series of weapons having a similar zoom to the pistols in R6. Sniper rifles have three levels of zoom now, so you can reach out and torch someone. The G3 and M-14 are the two 7.62 assault rifles included. These rifles have a much stronger punch than the 5.56 or 9mm weapons, and I'd expect most players would choose one of the two for their primary weapon in order to blast through their target's body armor. Each weapon has an ammo selection panel, with full metal jacket or jacketed hollow point rounds available. Again, I'd expect most players to use FMJ in order to defeat body armor. The rate the weapons reload is now more realistic, and this is most noticeable with the shotguns---these take twice as long to reload in RS than they did in R6. The rate of fire of the new weapons is the only real problem I've found with RS. I suspect that the following problems are being fixed (after all this is just a beta), as they severely hamper the shooting aspects of the game. In R6 using a Car-15 on three shot burst, I can empty the magazine in around one second. This is a realistic representation of the actual rate of fire of the Car-15. You can fire faster on burst than full-auto. Click to continue		For some reason in RS, there is a half- to three-quarter second delay between bursts on all weapons. I have taken every burst capable weapon and fired it as fast as I possibly can. In every case I get one burst fired for every five clicks on my mouse button. Since most R6 players use the burst setting because of its accuracy and speed, this is something that absolutely must be fixed before the release of RS. The AR-15's I've owned all fired as fast as I could pull the trigger, so I hope it is just a beta thing because it is totally unrealistic. Grenades and flashbangs are more effective in RS. Flashbangs have a more startling visual effect as well as an annoying buzz sound that lasts a few seconds, and grenades have a beefed-up damage model. One of the biggest differences from R6 is the ability to throw frags and flashes on the run. The player no longer needs to stop moving to release the grenade. This will alter the tactics of grenade battles enormously. In R6, if you strafed out to throw a grenade, you had to stop for a second once you cleared cover to release the weapon. Many a fragger has been shot in this split-second of vulnerability. Now the same move can be performed in one motion without pausing. Here is a scenario familiar to all R6 clan players: the player is at a corner of a hallway, with a target about thirty feet away down the hall. In RS the player now simply gets a grenade ready to throw, charges it up to the desired level of throwing strength, strafes out from the corner around which the target is, releases the grenade just as he breaks cover, then immediately strafes back into cover. Using this technique, the player is now a target for only instant, and the target down the hall is a shrapnel-filled mess. Another option---in the same scenario---would be to use the peek move instead of strafing out around the corner. Another thing I noticed is that when I throw a frag while crouched it doesn't fly far enough to keep from wounding or killing me. Again, I suspect this is a beta issue that will be corrected by the time the game is released. The C4 demolition charge is new and operates nearly identically to the demo charge in Half Life or the claymores in Spec Ops. It is a stationary bomb that takes a laughable amount of time to place. Once it is planted, however, any opponent who wanders nearby is in for a rude shock. Think of C4 as a door charge that doesn't need a door to be placed on. Go to Page Three
Copyright © 1997 - 2000 COMBATSIM.COM, INC. All Rights Reserved. Last Updated July 21st, 1999